Small town meat and 3. Every small town has one. No all are created equal. This one is definitely a lot better than most! Small kind of run down older building with cars surrounding the parking lot. Around 12 on Friday we were fortunate to get one of 2 available parking spaces in a decent sized lot. People were pouring in and out of this place. Our table hadn't been adequately cleaned; however, they pack a lot of people in at lunch and were likely just busy vs unkept. Service was reasonably prompt and friendly. The food was great! I had the hamburger steak with gravy and onion, Mac and cheese, turnip greens, fried okra and and the fried corn bread. The hamburger steak was real hand pattied ground chuck, with perfectly grilled onion. The sides were all homemade. The fried corn bread turned out to be a hoe cake. A hoe cake is a thin corn bread batter fried like a pan cake. It was awesome! I haven't had one in years!! That's a grandmother/ great grandmother kinda thing you do not see these days. The value was phenomenal. All of that was $7.07 with tax. You can't get a combo meal at a fast food joint for $7.00. This was real deal southern style cuisine. Their regular menu includes the burgers etc...and some pretty awesome looking onion rings. They also have a number of homemade deserts including my son's fav peanut butter pie. I will likely grab him a piece on my way home next week. I will be back for lunch again next week. The daily specials included a fried chicken breast, chicken livers, pork roast, chicken fried steak and maybe a couple other items with more than a dozen sides. The daily specials vary with exception to the chicken breast which is available every day. This is the absolute best lunch I've found in Muscle Shoals for value, quantity and more importantly taste! read more

Garden Gate Cafe - Hamburger steak, okra, greens, Mac and cheese and a hoe cake! $7.07 with tax! - American Near Me - Muscle Shoals, Alabama

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We visited here for lunch after a road trip to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. This is a solid little spot for country cooking. The sign for the place is a little hard to see and I missed the turn to enter the parking area initially. Made our way back and found a spot, though the lot is a little bit hard to maneuver. We walked inside to a slightly hot, slightly dim interior. It's larger than it looks on the outside. A friendly waitress told us we could sit where we liked, so we took a booth near a window so we could see the menu better. Their choices were fairly varied for lunch. Lunches come with a meat + 3 veggies and your choice of bread. I ordered the boneless fried chicken breast, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, and at the recommendation of our waitress, the hash brown casserole with a roll as my bread. My mom got the country fried steak with brown gravy, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, cabbage, and a roll. My dad got the same thing except he subbed the cabbage for greens of some sort, though I can't recall if they were turnip or collard greens. He also got the fried cornbread. Our waitress was very nice and patient with us, even with my dad chatting her up, lol. Our food came out quickly. You pay at the register up front -- we thought the prices were reasonable. As for the food itself, it was enjoyable! Simple, straightforward, but tasty and comforting. The chicken was breaded expertly and was cooked well. To me, the stand out was the fried okra, which was perfectly crisp. We also enjoyed the macaroni and cheese, greens, and chicken fried steak. My mom said her best thing was the cabbage, which was surprising at first -- but I agree, the cabbage was excellent! The hashbrown casserole and the fried cornbread were the only two letdowns; the casserole needed to be cooked and seasoned a bit more, and the cornbread was likewise a little on the floppy side, instead of having pleasantly crisp edges. Overall, though, solid country cooking at a reasonable price served quickly by nice people. Give them a go if you're in the area. read more

Garden Gate Cafe - Country fried steak with brown gravy, macaroni and cheese, cabbage, and fried okra with a roll - American Near Me - Muscle Shoals, Alabama

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Near FAME studio, so I stopped in for a quick bite. The roast chicken was extremely tasty and the turnip greens were good, but I had better in the area. The service was nice and answered my annoying questions with a smile. The ambiance is extremely simple, but good with a very plain menu and straightforward offerings, including buttermilk pie for dessert (maybe another time). read more

Great food and reasonable! Hard to beat! I had the chicken and dressing. Service was very quick read more

Old fashioned Southern meat and three with everything made from scratch and delicious! I had fried chicken breast, cream corn, slaw and man and cheese with Mexican cornbread. read more

Stopped in after work from a recommendation. The atmosphere was comfortable and felt like home. Miss Cathy was my server and she was the sweetest and quickest server I've ever seen. She took my order and within minutes I had my food in-front of me with a smile. The food blew me away! You get so much for the price it's unreal. You know when the food is so good everyone is silent because they're too busy eating? Yeah...not a word was spoken from me. Cleaned my plate, left a big tip, and am already planning my next trip. 10/10 would definitely recommend. read more

Garden Gate Cafe - Hamburger Casserole, mashed potatoes with gravy, Mac and cheese, Mexican cornbread and coleslaw - American Near Me - Muscle Shoals, Alabama

Absolutely one of the best country, home-cooking restaurants. You will find no better turnip greens. Service is fast also.

If you like down home southern food and in a hurry come here. Food reminds me of momma's cooking. Service is fast and they offer up to several choices of food every day the cook has prepared. Carryout is quick also. read more

Delicious food (mostly meat and three with assortment of vegetables daily, all homemade with fantastic desserts), reasonable prices, large portions, personable friendly service, clean restaurant, and owned by great local couple! Nothing fancy, but just a good, down home atmosphere in a restaurant owned by people who purpose to do things the right way! read more

Loveliest diner with good comfort food at a good price. Nicest folks work her too. Recommended by the locals hands down the right choice.

Delicious simple food and great service. The fried chicken is always perfectly cooked.

Best southern style food there is in the shoals and service, price, and how quick the food got out to me was great.

Fantastic food! Super friendly staff!! Perfect service and attention to all your needs!! We had trouble finding the place because we were from out of town, and a lady that worked there came outside and waved so we could find it. Who does that? This place does! We got there close to closing, so they were out of some food, but that's not a negative review. The food we did get was out of this world. If you want a good meat and 3, this is the place to be!! Two thumbs up and 5 stars from this customer. It's a long way from home, but we will be going back!! read more

Service is terrible, tried calling an order in and was placed on hold. I was only a few miles away so I just drove there, all while still on hold. Saw the parking lot and was only 3 cars there. Went in, while still on hold, placed an order, received the order and left. All the while I am still on hold, 3 employees walking around texting and never once did anyone come back to the phone. read more

An easy 4-star rating. Good home cooking, decent portions, fast service, and almost dirt cheap. Modest environment, but maybe they get points for the charm (or is quaint the word?). Well worth the time and expense. Not to mention you can see FAME studios down the street. Bonus! read more

Always the best meat and three in North Alabama and at the lowest price. I order the fried chicken breast. It is very tender and juicy with the best tasting crispy batter. There is always another couple of meats to choose from and a large selection of vegetables. The vegetables are good too, just good southern cooking. Tea is good and service is fast. read more

Best home cooking in North Alabama! Good service, good portions, delicious taste, and cheap! Can't wait to eat hear every time I get back in town! read more

I came here with a coworker because we're aiming to try 'unchained' places around the Shoals. Our previous duo lunch was a trip to Mama Jean's, another meat and 3 place rumored to be owned by the same family but I'm not sure of the validity of that information. This place is a more tightly spaced than Mama Jean's. I ordered something similar so that I could compare. I had the boneless fried chicken breast, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cole slaw. To me the chicken was better here and the portion was larger. The green beans were cooked thoroughly the Southern way. Mashed potatoes were good. The cole slaw was just OK, a little more bland than I like, but I'm picky about cole slaw. It was a great value for the amount of (good) food that I got. List: The BEST boneless fried chicken breast I've ever had. read more

This has always been a place to get consistently great food, consistently great service. Always love going to the Garden Gate

If you're into meat and three places, this is the spot. The food is always pretty good and the service is lightening fast. A big ole glass of tea always hits the spot. read more

Garden Gate Cafe - the menu for the garden gate cafe - American Near Me - Muscle Shoals, Alabama

I am a sucker for a good blue plate and this place delivers exactly that! Prices are very fair and you get a good amount of food. Great little local, casual, relatively cheap meal! read more

Rear and waitress brought me another PC of chicken because she didn't like the size of the one served. Really goodb

The service was extremely fast. That is why they get the star. The food is prepared in large quantities. Meaning alot of the same item is standing by ready to be served. Chicken breast tasted like it had been cooked and left standing under a heat lamp. Luke warm and dried out. The mashed potatoes cold and grainy more like instant then real. The waitress was friendly and personable. If this is what home cooking is like in this town. We will be eating at burger king it has 5 stars read more

Very good food,reasonable priced,but the waitresses i have encountered need to take a crash course on friendly.The one's i have dealt with have crappy personalities! The ONLY reason i keep going back is the food and prices. read more

We love Garden Gate. Haven't had anything we didn't like. Always a great selection of meats and veggies...great desserts, too. Prices are great! Love the menu line! read more

Honestly I eat here a lot mostly with my grandparents but almost all of the time it's good 8/10-10/10 but ONE time it was honestly REALLY bad i don't know what it was but my oh my it was TERRIBLE read more

The food is always amazing and humongous portions and the sweet tea is delicious. The service is awful though. You can't ever get anyone to come back and check on you which usually results in having to go up front and asking for what you need, which I dont mind but dont expect a tip. I hear they get paid minimum wage any way. Ohh and their parking lot is a disaster. read more

Very fast service. Good southern, stick to your bones type meals. Typical meat and three platters. Great tasting food and very affordable.